Johannes Brahms wrote of the Chaconne from the Violin Partita in D minor: "On one stave, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings." Yehudi Menuhin called it "the greatest structure for solo violin that exists." A testament to the...

In 1875 Nikolay Bernard, editor of the music magazine Nouvellist, commissioned Tchaikovsky to write 12 short piano pieces, one for each month of the year, and suggested a subtitle for each month's piece. Tchaikovsky accepted the commission and readers of the magazine were promised a new Tchaikovsky piece each month...